The Arts sector in the European Union includes 2.5% of the working population

Madrid, Spain – The General Society of Authors and
Composers (SGAE) informed today that activities related with the Arts (known as
Culture in Europe) represent 2.5% of the jobs in the European Union, according
to a report developed by the Statistical Office of the European Union
(Eurostat). A total of 4.2 million people in the European Union are dedicated to
professional activities related with the Cultural industry. These positions are held by
professionals with a higher academic level than the national average -about 40%
are college graduates- although job insecurity is higher than in other
professions.Temporary or self employed workers and part time contracts
are the general norm in this sector, according to the diagnosis of Eurostat,
after having analyzed the arts sector in European Union countries, as well as
Iceland, Norway, Bulgaria and Switzerland. Portugal has the highest rate of temp
work (35%) versus Luxembourg’s 1%. Concerning part-time contracts, a very
frequent practice in the sector, Holland leads the classification with 56% of
part-time workers. In the case from Denmark, 20% of the employees in involved in
Cultural tasks supplement this activity with a second job.

The abundance of self-employed workers is also another of
the characteristics of employment in the European Cultural sector. In general,
the number of self-employed workers dedicated to the Arts surpasses that of the
average of the active population (29% versus 14%). Italy, with 47% of
self-employment, or Austria, with 39%, are the clearest examples of the high
percentage of this type of workers in the sector.

The Spanish case

Spain is located below the European average in the number
of workers in the cultural sector (2% versus 2.5% in the European Union).
However, the number of people with university degrees in the sector is one of
the highest in Europe (51%). In the Spanish Cultural field, part time work is
very common (34%), although similar to that of the rest of the professions
(30%). In general, in Spain there are fewer cultural workers with a second job
(6%), although this fact is significant if we keep in mind that only 2% of the
active population in Spain has two jobs.

European Union Countries	% of cultural employment
European Union	2.5
Belgium	2.3
Czech Republic	1.8
Denmark	3.1
Germany	2.7
Estonia	3.7
Greece	2.5
Spain	2.0
France	2.1
Ireland	2.7
Italy	2.2
Cyprus	2.5
Latvia	1.8
Lithuania	2.7
Luxemburg	1.8
Hungary	1.9
Malta	not available
Holland	3.3
Austria	2
Poland	not available
Portugal	1.4
Slovenia	2.5
Slovakia	1.4
Finland	3.5
Sweden	3.3
United Kingdom	3.2

6% of the Spanish GNP

In terms of GNP (Gross National Product), the cultural sector in
Spain represents approximately 6%, according to estimates of Economic Theory
professor José Ramón Lasuén, one of the most respected specialists in
professional and academic circles in the country. In the advanced economies, the
influence of the arts sector is fundamental for the creation of added value and
its contribution to the Interior Products. In the United States, the Culture and
Leisure industry represented 7.33 % of their GNP in 1999, with a very notable
growth from the 5.4% registered during the year 1987. About 4.2% of Americans
work in this sector.

In the case of the United Kingdom, the percentage of
participation in the GNP was 4% in 1995, with an employment a participation in
this sector of 5%. In Australia, the 1999 data is 3.3% of the GNP and 3.8% of
the total salaried population. In Finland (1997), the percentage of the GNP
increased to 4,1%, and Norway had 3.8% (with data from 1999). The cultural
sector reached 5.5% of the GNP in The Netherlands (1998), with 5.5% of the total
active population. These indicators are very irregular in reference to Latin
America, with a specific weight of the GNP that oscillates between 0.7% in
Ecuador and 4.01% and 4.03% in Venezuela and Colombia, respectively.

In this context, the data that corresponds Spain for 1997
(4,5%), with some projections of  6% for 2002, corroborates that Spain has a
privileged position in the development of what, without any doubt, is a
strategic sector for the national economy. According to the forecasts of
professor Lasuén, with new approaches to define and quantify the cultural sector
(including education, cultural tourism and technological innovation), this could
represent, within a few years, up to 15% of the Spanish GNP and of other
developed countries.